WIAA track and field: Area athletes ready for State

The WIAA track and field season comes to a close with the 119th State Track and Field Meet on Friday and Saturday at Veterans Memorial Complex at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Manitowoc Lincoln’s Eric Fogltanz qualified in three events. The junior made will compete in the 110 and 300 hurdles as well as in the 800 relay.

“I’m expecting Eric to just keep competing and not back down from the competition that’s going to be there and place as high as he possibly can,” Lincoln boys coach Jacque Bartow said.

Fogltanz will join forces with fellow juniors Paul Beyer, and Austin Haupt along with sophomore Bailey Seidl. Bartow believes the team can make it out of prelims, but she also believes they will need to break the school record of 1:29.6 in order to do so.

“Their focus is on breaking the school record,” Bartow said. “If they just focus on themselves and not worry about the competition I think that they should be OK.”

“Sarah Greene has been improving by about three to six inches pretty steadily. The hope is for her to continue that progression,” Lincoln girls coach Rick Ducat said. “Obviously, you can’t continue that as the heights get higher and higher, but we’re still hoping to get to 11 (feet) this year. That would put her right in the thick of the top 10, depending how they do.”

With the assistance of Bartow, Snyder has been able to make strides in the long jump.

“We changed a little bit on her approach,” Ducat said. “Coach Bartow trains her approach and, since then, she’s been jumping much better. She’s almost to 16-6, our goal is to shoot for a high 16 to end up...in the top half.”

“I’m happy for the gals. They’ve worked hard and they’re peaking at the right time. I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s time to have fun. That’s the whole thing I’ve been stressing to them.”

Ensuring that their athletes have a memorable experience at State is also a primary goal for Bartow.

“We want to make sure that, when we get there, we have fun. We planned a cookout, picnic at Pettibone Park. We’re going to go see a La Crosse Loggers game possibly to kind of keep them and their minds off of the stress that might come with the competition,” Bartow said. “More importantly, we want them to have a great experience so they come back and share that with their teammates to get their teammates fired up.”

Division 2

Relays have been a strong suit for the Kiel girls team all year. The postseason was no exception.

“In terms of the sprint relay we probably have to of the best sprinters, maybe, in the area two of our closers in Brittany Jeager and Kayla Lallensack,” Kiel girls coach Jamie Arenz said. “Putting those two pieces in any relay is solid.

“For our distance relay...we just have a lot of solid, solid pieces who work extremely hard. They have a lot of pride and were really determined to take that next step.”

Jaeger (100 dash) and Lallensack (200) each qualified individually for Kiel. Lallensack qualified for State in the 200 a year ago.

Two Rivers’ Alexi Walesh will be competing in long jump, while teammates Carly and Kristy Terp will be in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs as well as the 3,200 relay.

“Alexi has really had a great season. She’s really a talented kid,” Raiders girls coach Amy Gallagher said. “I feel like we can put her anywhere from the 100-meter dash, the shot put, the two-mile and I think she would do it well. I think for us, it wasn’t a matter of if Alexi would go to State, it was which event would she go in.”

While Gallagher is impressed with Walesh’s athleticism, she feels that her young athlete will be competing in her strongest event.

“That was probably her most consistent event all season. She’s a gamer,” Gallagher said. “When it comes down to it, she can go that extra inch to solidify that spot. Anything can happen for her there. If nothing else, she’s a sophomore and it will be good for her to have that experience of being there.”

Both Kristy and Carly Terp went to State in the 3,200 a season ago. They each ran in the 1,600, 3,200, and 3,200 relay at regionals and sectionals last week. They advanced to La Crosse in all three events.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the both of them at this point in the season,” Gallagher said. “They had the roughest week possible last week having to run six races in our hottest week of the season. We asked a lot of them.”

Though competing in three distance events at State is no easy task, Gallagher believes the time between events will be a benefit to Kristy and Carly.

“Now, their races are spaced out. They’re going to feel fresh when they get into them and they’re hungry. They had to run a heck of race in that mile to earn their spot (at sectionals),” Gallagher said. “It shows that they’re not just ready to run fast, but to race and I’m really excited for what they’re going to do.”

The Terps will join up with Angela Henrickson and Kylie Jansky in the 3,200 relay. Allie Wachowski and Kayla Jansky are the alternates, something that could come into play this weekend.

No matter which four she trots out there, Gallagher is confident they will get the job done, just as they did at sectionals.

“They are really good at rolling with it. In fact, we didn’t make the decision to run the alternate until about 15 minutes before the race. Nobody was shaken, they just stuck with their business. Nobody even seemed to bat an eye. They are very confident in each other. If one goes down, they know the next person is going to be ready to go and is capable.”

Willman has the top seed in the 300 hurdles, he turned in a time of 39.25 at sectionals.

“I would like to see him podium in the 300 hurdles, for sure,” TR boys coach Scott Helling said. “I think he could be top three. He’s only getting better in that event.”

Bianchi ran a personal best time of 4:24.07 at sectionals. His coach believes Bianchi could possibly improve upon that time at State.

“I really don’t know what to expect in that event,” Helling said. “Obviously, every kid goes down there with the intent of getting of getting on the awards stand. If he could improve on his 4:24, that would be fantastic. He’s pretty gutsy. I wouldn’t rule him out, that’s for sure.”

After barely missing a State berth on several occasions, Mishicot’s Brianna Ahumada (discus) punched her ticket to La Crosse in her senior season.

“It was an achievement,” Indians girls coach Karri Wiegert said. “After four years of track and being so close..part of her track career has been fulfilled.”

Ahumada owns the school record in discus with a throw of 127-04. According to Wiegert, Ahumada has broken the school school record a total of six times.

“Brianna is capable of doing everything. You never know what she’s going to do when she steps in the ring and that’s kind of the excitement and thrill of it,” Weigert said. “I’m hoping she gets the school record again.”

Valders’ Nati Lehman also earned a spot in the field for the 200. He has been nursing a hamstring injury for much of the season.

Vikings head coach Jesse Schneider believes Lehman is healthy and ready to go, but they have still taken precautions to keep him from aggregating is injury.

“I think we haven’t seen the best of him yet. Going into regionals, he had very little training,” Schneider said. “The last week here, we’ve been easing into practice, not pushing it to where he strains it again. We’re just making sure he’ll be able to compete.”

Lubner, a freshman, is the top-seeded runner in Division 3 in the 300 hurdles.

“She has just been excelling over the last three weeks,” Panthers girls coach Christine Shimek said. “She has just been getting better every single day. I think she has a chance to be a champion in both. We’re hoping top three in the 100 and I’m hoping for a champion in the 300 hurdles.”

Ebben finds herself in a crowded field in high jump, but Shimek thinks she could separate herself from the pack.

“(Bailey) could be anywhere from fourth to 12th,” Shimek said. “We came in with a 4-11 jump and there are a lot of girls at 4-11. She has jumped 5-1 this year so, if she does her best, we’ll be on the podium.”

Eckstein is making her first trip to State. Shimek is confident her thrower could place.

“She is seeded fourth with her 122-9 throw, so our goal is certainly to be on the podium,” Shimek said. “I’d love to see her (finish) four or above.”

Manitowoc Lutheran’s Rachel Winter qualified in the 200 and 400 as well as the 1,600 relay. Last year, as a junior, Winter took fourth in the 400 and sixth in the 200.

“My hope for Rachel is that she improves on her times from last year,” Lancers girls coach Karen Wilsmann said. “I would certainly like to see her finish up on the stand with the relay team. That would be a perfect day.”

The group broke a 28-year-old school record at sectionals with a time of 4:13.65.

“They feel and I fell that they can still run a little faster,” Wilsmann said. “We’re hoping that they make it to Saturday and from there we’ll have to see, but it will take a best performance from all of them.”